Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, voiced by Casey Kasem, in the TV show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-Present).

The Scooby-Doo animated series started way back in 1969… but even then, Shaggy was a total scaredy cat. You'll often hear him throwing out his catchphrase—a panicked "zoinks!"—any time he sees a spooky ghost or ghoul coming around the corner. Hey, we'd be scared, too. But we're also not ghost-hunters.

And that's actually kind of weird when you think about it. Here's a guy whose job is investigating all kinds of ghosts and monsters as a member of Mystery, Inc. He's also watched that same team unmask, like, 99.9% of these alleged monsters over the years. He seriously knows that ghosts do not exist. Yet every single time he sees a phantom or some weird creature flying through the air, he loses it: "zoinks!"

But Shaggy's fear also has a fun comic effect. While Fred, Daphne, and Velma are anxious to split up and look for clues, Shaggy and Scooby are hanging back shaking in their boots. We know we can always count on them for a few good scares and laughs. Oh, and one of those fun chase scenes where they play music and then outsmart the monster for exactly fifteen seconds. We just love those.

Where you've heard it

When something freaks you out, you probably just scream, right? Next time, try dropping a well-timed "zoinks!" when you think you see some beastie coming around the corner. Your friends will thank you for the laughs later. Don't believe us? Check out these other examples of "zoinks!" in action:

The Zoinks project is a computer system developed by students at the University of Oregon. The name stands for Zee Open Interface Networked Kontrol Standard. Snazzy.

A Nevada pop-punk band named themselves after Shaggy's catchphrase—Zoinks!

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Don't worry, no one will ever accuse you of being pompous if you shout this after spotting a really freaky looking monster in your closet.